1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to display devices in general, and in particular to an electronically controlled and illuminated pictorial artwork display.
2. Description of the Related Art
Cartoon art displays suitable for hanging on a wall can range from simple frames for cartoon cels to complex devices with mechanical parts for moving the images of cartoon characters, speakers for playing back an audio soundtrack, and buttons for initiating the character movement with a synchronized audio soundtrack.
The more complex displays are much more valuable and much more difficult to manufacture. Such a display has a certain thickness within which the display objects may be placed at different depths so as to create a three-dimensional effect. There is a cartoon character (for example) on one piece in the center, with scenery artwork both in front of and in back of, the character. All of this production art is printed on the separate pieces. When a button in the bottom right-hand side is pushed, a sequence of movements with synchronized audio is initiated. The central cartoon character's body and arms move while the soundtrack with both music and dialogue from a movie is played. Other characters and moving objects may appear from behind scenery artwork during the sequence and execute their own movements.
Clearly, the parts of this display must be painstakingly crafted, joined together, and calibrated in order to insure that the sequence of movements and sounds will look and sound as it should. Most of the parts of this display, including the backbox and frame, are customized for this particular cartoon piece and cannot be used in the creation of other cartoon art displays. Because of the economies of scale, a large quantity of such displays (as many as 10,000) must be built in order to recoup fixed costs.
The complex nature of this type of audio-visual cartoon art display results in some shortcomings in both its manufacturing and retailing. As mentioned above, a large number of them must be produced so a truly limited edition of the display (perhaps 1,000) is not practicable from the manufacturing standpoint. Furthermore, because many of the parts, such as the mechanical actuators, are individually crafted and programmed for each style, the manufacturer can not take advantage of interchangeable parts which can be used in a multitude of display design styles.
Because of its complexity, this type of audio-visual cartoon art display must arrive at the retailers fully assembled in a frame. Thus, individual retailers can not individualize the display by placing their own frame on it, or by allowing the customer to choose a frame design. Furthermore, after pressing the button, sales people trying to show the audio-visual cartoon display must wait for the sequence of movements and audio to end before continuing the conversation with the customer. Because the sequence can last a considerable amount of time (e.g., 30 to 60 seconds), it can slow down the momentum of a sales pitch and otherwise distract from the salesperson's talking points. Moreover, if the salesperson is attempting to demonstrate several different styles of products, it becomes burdensome to listen to the audio-visual sequences of each style of product to its completion.
Furthermore, although these complex mechanical devices add audio and visual effects to cartoon art, the addition of these effects are a step removed from the traditional flat animation artworks. In other words, the large bulky mechanical displays are their own form of artwork, but not a means of adding more expressive value to traditional flat animation artworks. Further still, the fact that such a complex display has many mechanical parts makes it difficult to offer a variety of styles and programming.
Therefore, there is a need for a display device for traditional flat animation art which is capable of audio and visual effects which add value and expressive content to the artwork, without detracting from the traditional format of the artwork. There is also a need for an audio-visual cartoon art display device which allows the use of interchangeable parts while still retaining the integrity of traditional animation art. There is a further need for an audio-visual cartoon art display device that allows for the retailer or customer to individualize the framing of the display device without requiring the retailer or customer to deal with the complexities of the device. Furthermore, these is a need for an audio-visual cartoon art display device that may include a long soundtrack and sequence, yet doesn't require the entire sequence/soundtrack to play all the way through. Further still, there is a need for an audio-visual cartoon art display device that offers both reliability and a low service requirement.